Cleaning mitten



f Feb. 4, 1958 N. c. MAY

' CLEANING MITTEN Fil ed. April 25, 1955 'Naozz-ul among filial name yUnit d tes. Bat f .0, C6

CLEANING MITTEN Naomi C. May, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor of one-half toJoseph A. Sutton, Philadelphia, Pa.

. Application April 25, 1955, Serial-N0. 503,394

4 Claims. (Cl. -227) The present invention relates generally to the artof cleaning and polishing and it relates more particularly to mittensfor wet or dry cleaning and polishing of Venetian blind slats and othersurfaces.

An object of the present invention is to provide a new and improvedmitten for wet or dry cleaning and polishing of Venetian blind slats andother surfaces. Another object of the present invention is to provide acleaning and polishing mitten whichcan be used on either the right handor the left hand and which is particularly effective in the cleaning ofVenetian blind slats and other relatively thin objects having oppositeouter surfaces capable of being encompassed by the hand of the user.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a cleaningand polishing mit which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture; whichcan be used either dry ,or wet (with water or suitable detergentsolution); and which greatly cuts down the time required for cleaningVenetian blind slats, the legs of furniture, bric-a-brac, and othersimilar objects and surfaces. Other objects and advantages of thepresent invention are apparent in the following detailed description,appended claims and accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings there are shown certain forms thereof whichare presently preferred and which have been found in practice togive'satisfactory results, it being understood, however, that thepresent invention is not limited to the precise arrangements andinstrumentalities illustrated.

Referring to the accompanying drawings in which like referencecharacters indicate like parts throughout:

Figure l is a perspective view of a cleaning mit forming one embodimentof the present invention, as it appears in use.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the mit'of Fig. 1; the wipingpanel or member being shown in fiat position with the finger and thumbportions lying in a single plane.

Figure 3 is an elevational view like that of Fig. 2 but showing thethumb portion of the wiping panel turned upward and into juxtapositionwith the finger portion.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view taken generally alongthe line 44 of Fig. 3.

According to the embodiment of Figs. 1-4, I may construct the novel mitof the present invention extremely simply and with a minimum number ofparts and fabrication operations.

Thus, in this embodiment, I may provide an integral one-piece back panelor member 10; an integral front panel or member 12; an integral wipingpanel or member 14 and an integral lining and backing panel or member 16underlying the wiping panel 14 and identical therewith in configuration.

The wiping panel 14 has a rounded finger portion 18 and a generallytrapezoidal thumb portion 20. As mentioned above, the underlying liningand backing panel 16 is similar in configuration to the wiping panel 14and also has a rounded finger portion and a trapezoidal thumb portion.

2,821,731 Patented Feb. 4, 1958 The panels or members 10, 12, 14 and 16are interconnected into a more or less unitary mitten by seamlines in anextremely simple manner.

Thus, a continuous seam 22 connects the adjoining edges of the backpanel 10 and front panel 12 extending upward along one side of themitten until it meets the inner end of the rounded finger portion 18 ofthe wiping panel 14 (and also the inner end of the lining panel 16). Theseam 22 then continues along the rounded outer edges of the panels 12,14 and 16 until it reaches the opposite inner ends of the fingerportions of the wiping and lining panels 14 and 16. Thereafter, the seam22 continues downward so as to connect the other edges of the back panel10 and front panel 12.

The second seam 24 connects the edges of the trapezoidal thumb portion20 of the wiping panel 14 (and also the corresponding trapezoidal thumbportion of the lining panel 16) to the correspondingly shapedtrapezoidal edges of the front panel 12. v

The thumb seam 24 meets the outer continuous seam 22 at points 26 so asto form a generally enclosed mit having an opening 28 to permitinsertion of the hand into the mit. The free ends of the back and frontpanels 10 and 12 may be turned inward at the opening 28 and hemmed by acontinuous annular seam 30.

The wiping panel 14 is preferably constructed of a pile fabric, such asterry cloth, or other similar material which is relatively bulky andcapable of holding an appreciable volume of liquid when wet.

The panels 10, 12 and 16 may be constructed of any suitable wovenmaterial, natural or synthetic, including, for example, cotton, nylon,Dacron, Orlon, etc.

Instead, the panels 10, 12 and 16 may be constructed of continuous-filmsheeting of waterproof material, as for example natural or syntheticrubber, synthetic resins (like polythene), etc.

The use of waterproof material for panels 10, 12 and 16 has theadvantage of keeping the hand of the user dry when the glove is immersedin water or a detergent solution to wet the wiping panel 14, when theglove is used, as will be described hereinbelow.

However, in the interest of economy, ordinary woven fabric may be usedfor the panels 10, 12 and 16. In such case, the cleaning mit can be wornover a conventional one-piece molded waterproof glove G of latex or thelike to protect the hand of the user from the water or detergentsolution, as shown in Fig. 1.

Where the cleaning mit is used in conjunction with a separate waterprooflatex glove G as described above, it may, under certain circumstances,also be desirable to construct the lining panel 16 of pile fabric (suchas terry cloth) to increase the water retaining properties of the wipingpanel 14.

As best indicated in Figs. 2 and 3, the trapezoidal thumb portion 20 ofthe wiping panel 14 (as well as the corresponding portion of the liningpanel 16) is centered with respect to the side edges of the mit so thatthe mit can be used equally well on either the right hand or the lefthand. Since, in cleaning operations on Venetian blind slats, the legs offurniture, pieces of bric-a-brac and other surfaces, it is frequentlyadvantageous to be able to use one or the other hand at will, theprovision of a centered symmetrical thumb portion, as described above,is highly desirable.

As also indicated in Figs. 2 and 3, the free end of the trapezoidalthumb portion is relatively wide to afford a more effective cleaningaction than would be possible with a conventional thumb portionconforming more closely to the thumb of the hand.

The double-ply structure provided by the wiping panel 14 and the liningpanel 16 affords some degree of stifi'ness and form retention andfurther increases the efiiciency a ems ofthe mit since it enables agreater area of the finger portion'18 and the thumb portion 20 to remainin effective wiping contact with the surface being cleaned; as forexample the Venetian blind slats S shown in l l owiv t t e v n Wh m n? te n Pa e 16.. r still stifii'cient ly flexible to enable them to becurvedso as. to fit about rounded objects: such as, table and chairlegs, bric-a-brac sui 'faces, etc.

This flexibility alse'provides a distinct advantage in that'the user,simply by making a tight fist, can squeeze out the excess water ordetergent solution, following immersion, so as to provide a thoroughlywet and yet not dripping wiping panel such as is most desirable forclean ing purposes.

Instead of employing a pile fabric such as terry cloth for thewiping'panel' 14 (and optionally also the lining panel 16 I mayuseflannel er other relatively bulky and liquid retaining material.

' Another advantage of my novel cleaning mit construction stems from thefact that the wiping panel is constructed of a single piece of fabricwhich, as described above, normally lies in single plane with the thumbportion and the rounded forward portion thereofextending in continuationof each other, as shown in Fig. 2. This enables the user to insert hisor her entire hand into the finger pocket, with the thumb alongside ofthe fingers, and to use the entire fiat surface of the wiping panel (i.e. both'the rounded forward portion and the thumb portion) for washingor wiping relatively large surfaces. That is, the thumb pocket is nowempty and the thumb portion of'thewiping panel merely forms anenlargement and continuation of the rounded forward finger portion ofthe wiping panel. In other words, the cleaning mit can b'e'used equallywell in the position shown in Fig. 2, as in' the position shown in Figs.1 and 3.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms and,therefore, the foregoing embodiments are to be considered in allrespects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being made tothe appended claims as indicating the scope of this invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to protectby Letters Patent the following:

'1. A cleaning mitten capable of being used on either hand comprising: aone piece front panel of-non-absorbent material; a one piece'back panelof non-absorbent materialg'and a one piece wiping panel of an absorbentmaterial backedby a non-absorbent material, said wiping panel beingfoldable into a relatively wide thumb section wiping panel beingstitched together by a peripheral seamline extending along the entirelength of their peripheral edges, the front panel having a forwardsection corresponding in shape with the thumb section of said wipingpanel, and a rearward section corresponding in shape with the rearwardsection of said back panel, the thumb section of the wiping panel andthe forward section of the front panel beingstitched together by aperipheral seamline extending along the entire length of theirperipheral edges, and the rearward sections of the front and back panelbeing stitched together by peripheral seamlines extending the length oftheir side edges, thereby forming a generally enclosed mitten having anelongated wrist enclosing opening between the peripherally stitchedrearward sections of the front and back panels, a single widethumb-enclosing pocket between the peripherally stitched forward sectionof the front panel and section of the wiping panel, and a single widefinger enclosing pocket between the peripherally stitched forwardsection of the back panel and thumb-section ot the wiping panel with thenon-absorbent backing of the wiping panel being dispo d inside themitten.

A construction according to claim 1 wherein the wiping panel is ofabsorbent fabric and wherein the nonabsorb'ent backing of the wipingpanel is a lining panel underlying the wiping panel and corresponding inshape thereto, the edges of-the lining panel being secured to the contigueus edges of; the wiping panel and the back panel: and the frontpanel by the peripheral seamlines. 3. A construction according to claim2 wherein the back panel, the front panel and the lining panel are ofwaterproof material so that the hand of the user is kept even though thewiping panel is used in wet condition.

construction according to claim 2' wherein the wiping panel and thelining panel have trapezoidal thumb portie'ns, the composite two-plythumb structure having sufficient transverse stiffness to provide arelatively wide wiping area extending transversely substantially beyondthe thumb of the wearer.

References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENT-S D.170,734 Wright Oct. 27, 1953 590,347 Sylvestre Sept. 21, 1897 827,530Hills et a1. July 31, 1906 1,782,502 Crane Nov. 25, 1 930 2,034,169A-lefantis Mar. 17, 1936 2,227,707 Cooper J an. 7, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS21,535 Great Britain 1904

